Blanket for printing-presses or the like.



No. 650,l97. Patnted May 22, 1900. m. L. SEVEBY.

BLANKET FOR PRINTING PRESSES OR THE LIKE.

(Application filed Mar. 25, 1893.)

(No mum.)

His flttovng.

InvenlZr,

Mlvm L. Se veg;

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MELVIN L. snvnnr, or ARLINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR To Tim SEVERY PROCESS COMPANY, OF NEW JERSEY.

BLANKET FOR PRlNTlNG-PRESSES OR THE LIKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 650,197, dated May 22, 1900.

Application filed March 26, 1898.

T0 aZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MELVIN L. SEVERY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Arlington Heights, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Platen or Blanket for Printing-Presses or the Like, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention is in the line of platens or blankets for printing-presses in which the impression-surface is composed of minute in dependently-yielding areas, and the special class to which it belongs is that in which such areas are the terminals of vertically supported wires.

The objects of my present invention are to so shape each of the wires that the platen shall be more economical to manufacture while no less efficient in use, that shall enable the wires to be set closer together, and thus reduce their stippling action, to permit the wires to be made of higher temper, and, lastly, to enable the wires to be each a straight, unbent, headless, and otherwise-unmanipulated length of metal. In carrying these improvements into effect I have devised, first, a new formation or arrangement of each wire, and, secondly, a new method of providing the wires with a base or backing.

Referring to the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a sectional view of my complete platen or blanket. Fig. 2 is a sectional view showing the wires and backing alone. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the wires held in a leather or fabric backing. Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation of apparatus by which I form a metallic backing for the wires, and Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view of the wires and backing. I

As will be observed by reference to the drawings, all the wires A have a slight but uniform deviation from the perpendicular with respect to the base or backing B. Hence although thus slightly oblique they are all substantially parallel with respect to each other. As shown in Fig. 1, this blanket A B rests upon a bed or cylinder D ofthe press, while upon the ends of the wires is laid a bridging-plate O, which latter forms the subject-matter of a companion application. The degree of inclination which I have found best Serial No. 675,153. (No model.)

suited for the purpose of enabling the wires A to properly impress the paper against the press matter is indicated in Fig. 5, where a is the vertical line dropped from the tip of each wire to the backing. From this it will be seen that the deviation from the perpendicular is approximately equal to the diameter of the Wires themselves, and this permanent inclination is just sufiicient to enable the wires to flex uniformly and at their median points, such fiexnre being in the plane of their inclination. This is illustrated at the right-hand portion of Fig. 5, where A indicates the wires flexed at the points indicated by the arrows and in the direction to which they fly, while a is the normal right line from which such fiexure tends. This inclination of the wires must not be too pronounced, but within the safety-point at which the tendency to slip sidewise, given to each Wire by the bridgingpla-te, is not exceeded by the frictional resistance between such wire point and the plate. When this point is passed and the wires slip in the direction of their inclination, they do not flex at a median point, as above described, but bow bodily and bend at their juncture with the base or backing B. Such'bodily leaning is very objectionable, not alone because of the tendency to crawl which is given thereby both to the blanket and bridging-plate, but on account of the ensuing weakening and irregularly-lessened re sistance to pressure, and the consequent impairment of their impression-surface function.

It will be noticed in the left-hand wires of Fig. 5 the terminal surfaces of the wire ends are not perfectly parallel with the base B, but rise above the horizontal at the side toward which each wire leans. As illustrated this is much exaggerated; but its purpose and the manner of the formation of the same are as follows: When grinding off the ends of the backed wires, a uniform heavy pressure is applied to the grinding-body, and the wires are thereby made to lean farther than their normal inclination. Being all brought toa true surface while abnormally inclined in this manner, when the pressure of the attritionsurface is removed the terminal areas of the wires are found to dip, as described. The objects of such dipping of thewire terminals are asfollows: First, the wires being thus made to impress the bridging-plate at the acute edges of each terminal area a tendency to buckle is immediately imparted to the wires, which, taken in connection with the tendency to suchflexure given-by-the inclinedposition of the wirsfinsures'the nied ianbend required. Further, these acute edges by slightly plowing into the surface of the.bridging-plate O wholly prevent the wire ends from slipping along the same, and thereby entail ing the difiiculties previously cited. n

The second portion ofmyinventioncom' prises a novelmeans for formingthebase or backing which supports the wire impressionsurface. This consists in grouping the'mass ofwiresinto theproper positions and by elec troplatingwor dipping them intofusedmetal giving their lower ends a solidunetal is continued until the submerged extremities of thewires A are incased in a solid plate of deposited metal. The blanket is now completelyrformed and should be removed from theliquid'and clamping-box and the wire terminalsground t0 atrue surface or otherwise finished, as above described.

4 Figs. 1, 2,-and'5 illustrate the.impression wiresA with 'a metallic base B thus formed therefon .In Fig. 3 the base B is supposed tobe. the leather or heavy fabric already in use asshown in-my Patent No. 549,691: and

mothers pending. The wires A can. be inserted into such fabric-base with the same normal straightnessof body and slight inclination as described previously herein, and they may be retainedtherein either bybeing formed as double-pointed staples or by being made with-heads or otherwise; buthowever inserted or anchored their straightness of body. and slight inclination bring them within the scope ofthis-present invention. A .R'egarding the greater economy of manufacture which Ihave claime'd'for' my present invention, this is evident when we note the fact :t'hatfbein g used straight the wires do not requirethemedian bend which in my previousiconstructions must be formed after the wireshavebeen inserted in the fabric. The

saving. thus permitted, both in complication. of machinery andtime otherwise-given thereto isa decided gain even in the case of the fabric-bases; For metallic bases such median bendswould require especially-devised machinery for their manufacture. The wiresA- are. enabled by my present construction to be lengths of'wire;

s'et-.closer. together, and thereby to reduce their stipplin g action, because being normally straight there are no permanent bends or knees to interfere one with another. Fur- -therithewires can be made from more highly tempered stock ,thancan. beused when the :material must be subjected to right-angled fbends,fas.in the. case of the double-pointed staples when manufactured by the machinery now in general use, or when the wires have to be headed, as in the case of the singlelength sections inserted in fabric, or as in the .iorm. requiring,a permaneut median bend.

B'y'havingthe wire of a higher temper it can be oriigutersrockand still impart the required pressure. It will, in addition, be much more resilient and therefore better'fitte'dfor its-purpose. 7

-Unde-r certain-conditions Iflfomh' each- 'wi re with a slight head-or anickinthe' part tobe held in the base or backing, andthereby insure its retention therein, especially'when f other material than metal is employedfo'rthe' backing; but it is self-evidentthatmy method of providing the impression-wires with a me tall-ic. baseenables the individual wires'to be f simple-lengths -of unbent, headless, and otherwise-unmanipulated material,whil'e the slight inclination-thereof enables them to perform their required function with absolutely no initial bend, and there can be nothing more rapidly and cheaplyformed than such straight It will also be noted that'this normally-straight form ofthe wires gives't-he impression-surface its necessary greatest 're--- sistance at the beginning ofits-pr'essufe.

Although I have describedthe impressionsurface as plane, there is nothing; to prevent the backing, whether of "metal orfabric,-from being adaptedfor a cylinder, either by bend- 'ing or by an original formation in ac'urved outline. What I claim asmy' invention, and'for which I desire Letters Patent, is"as-follows,

' 1. Inablanketforpr-intingpresse's andthe like, the mass of terminally-supported"wires' each straight throughout its lengthand' havingits tip slightly out of alin-emen'tiwith respect tea perpendicular from'its base,'substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The blanket for printing-presses'com- A posed of the mass of nea-rlyvertical;wires adapted to have their upperendsi'forln a uniform impression surface, and the metallic base or backing rigidly holding the'loiwer ends of saidwires, eacho'f saidwiresbeinggstraight throughout its length, substantially asset forth. 7 7' 3. The blanket for 'pI'lHtlHg-PI'GSSGSTTCOD'L- posed of nearly-vertical jwires having their upper ends form a uniform impression-surface, and the metallic base or backingrigidly holding the lower ends ofsaid wires,and so tightly incasin'gsu'ch ends 1 a's-to wholly pre- Vent removal or displacement :thereofysub stanti'ally as set fort slightly inclined and having its upper end ground out of parallel with the base, substantially as and for the purpose set forth. V

In testimony thatI claim the foregoing in- I 5 vention I have hereunto set my hand this 24th day of March, A. D. 1898.

MELVIN L. SEVERY.

Witnesses:

F. E. CALLER, A. B. UPHAM. 

